[7] The basaltic formations of the Juan de Fuca plate could potentially be suitable for long-term CO2 sequestration as part of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) system.

It is estimated that 100 years of US carbon emissions (at current rate) could be stored securely, without risk of leakage back into the atmosphere.

[8][9] In 2019, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, published a study in Geophysical Research Letters in which they reported that by utilizing data from over 30,000 seismic waves and 217 earthquakes to create a three-dimensional map, they had revealed the existence of a hole in the subducted part of the Juan de Fuca plate, and speculated that the hole is an indication of a 150 kilometres (93 mi) deep tear in the plate along a "preexisting zone of weakness".

[10][11] In 2016, a geophysical study was published on the possible presence of a layer of buoyant material between the Earth's lithosphere and the asthenosphere under the Juan de Fuca plate.

The study extends the theory of partial melt in the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary to subduction zones, specifically in the convergent margins.

[12] Using teleseismic body-wave tomography, a low-velocity zone of thickness 50~100 km in the sublithospheric region beneath the Juan de Fuca plate was detected.

The observation, along with fluid-mechanical calculations that factor in Couette and Poiseuille flows, support the hypothesis of the accumulation of a buoyant material, characterized by low viscosity.